To be Angels of Compassion

Law enforcers have come forward confidentially to us, their spiritual leaders, to seek sanctuary, succor and protection. They have expressed their desire to come out in the open about their participation in extrajudicial killings and summary executions. Their consciences are troubling them.

We will look prudently into the sincerity of their motives and the veracity of their stories. Within the bounds of Church and civil laws, we express our willingness to grant them accommodation, shelter and protection (including their families if necessary). The hospitality, comfort and acceptance that they seek from the Church will be attended to. Whatever we do to the least of our brethren we do to Christ. (cfr. Mt. 25:40)

If such law-enforcers wish to testify, then the Catholic Church will see to it that they are in no way induced to speak, to disclose nor to make allegations by any member of the clergy or the hierarchy. Statements, especially in the form of affidavits and depositions, must be made with the assistance of competent independent counsel. If their preference is to stay with us in the Church, they will not be turned over to the State under its own witness-protection program.

My brother priests in Lingayen Dagupan are requested, in the name of the Lord, to open their hearts and their rectories, the convents of religious communities and seminaries as well as other secure buildings and to be responsible for the security of the gallant men and women in uniform who may have something important to tell the nation or to testify on before the proper forum.

But our priests are admonished to refrain from discussing with “asylum-seekers” the contents of their testimonies and depositions. It is furthermore recommended that volunteer lawyers, preferably those who belong to alternative law groups, assist the witness and also readily affirm that no member of the clergy instructed, directed, and couched the testimonies they give.

But when they so decide or opt to identify themselves and to testify, every means must be provided for a fair, accurate and unconstrained or unrestrained testimony that may be used in evidence.

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Fair Trade Needed in Buying Products and Services

Preda News
www.preda.org 

The one thing that customers want is FairTrade. They have a right to get value for the money they spend to buy a product or service. Fairness and trade justice are important values in our world today because there is so much injustice and unfair trade. Not only are the poor cheated and exploited by the traders and commercial buyers of their farm produce and the farmers are paid a pittance, the traders mark up the cost of the products by hundreds  of percentage points. They make unjust and unfair profit at the expense of the customer. There is a serious failure to have Fair Trade in everyday life when we go to the market or buy manufactured products.

That’s why there is a saying “Buyer Beware.” That tells us that the seller is likely to charge an unfair high price. They are prone to over-charge the customer, to cheat and commit fraud. That is why Fair Trade based on honesty, transparency and a sense of justice is the important value we need in society today.

There are laws that protect the customer but implementing it, like most laws, is very difficult so, “buyer beware.” The advise is to be skeptical of the offers and the sales talk of vendors and to bargain for a lower price and get a discount as much as. Also it is important to carefully read the warranty on the product and the terms and see that you agree to the terms before you buy. The Warranty Law is the law that protects the customer but it too has provisions that can cancel the rights of the customer.

It’s the same challenge for the buyer of consumer products. The workers and assemblers get paid low wages and the sellers and distributers in the retail shops make the huge profits by adding on  profit margins. In Fair Trade, there is the guarantee that any manufactured product certified Fair Trade they buy is of quality, durable and comes with after sales service. These genuine services and durable products are becoming scarcer. More and more it seems that companies are building appliances with what is known as “planned obeisance,” a product is built with a short life span and after perhaps two to three years it stops working. The one-year warranty is then useless and the customer has to pay huge expense for repair or buy a new appliance or product. That’s what the manufacturer wants us to do- buy a new appliance and throw  away the old.

Many a warranty is only for service and does not include the parts needed and if they do offer to repair it, retailers take months to have it done and the customer loses the use of the product without compensation. The customer has no redress and may have to pay for parts. Companies ought to state their warranty terms and conditions clearly and transparently beside the products.

Appliance repairs for washing machines, for example, are very expensive and parts are always needed as many products are now electronic. Customers have to avoid products and brands that have a short life span. Don’t believe the advertisements, sales talk and empty promises. Ask your friends for advice based on their experience with their brands. Do not believe the promises on the stickers on the appliance promising guarantees and warranties unless the warranty is in writing and says it is for parts and service, most do not.  The one year or more warranty ought be signed by a senior manager of the sales company pledging parts and service.

But the guarantee, according to Philippine law, will not be for more than one year in most cases. The warranty or guarantee is mostly just for repair service, the customer has to buy the expensive parts. In SM, they offer an extended guarantee for one year on an appliance for an extra payment that depends on the value  of the product. It is for part and services.

Samsung has a washing machine with a sticker that says 11 years warranty. When you ask what is guaranteed, they say the motor. Ask if that guarantee is in writing and includes parts and service and the salesperson says no, it is not given in writing and does not include parts. Are promises just smart manipulation of a customer with promises and to make a sale and earn a commission? After that there is no real service and care. If you have a repair done under warranty it has to be proven by the customer that it did not happen through neglect or the fault of the customer.  The company can deny you a repair or replacement. You have no recourse. It is not Fair Trade.

What can a disappointed or cheated customer do? Go to court and sue the company for not honoring a guarantee for a broken appliance? Yes, it’s a good idea if it is an expensive item. The customer that feels cheated can file a small claim case and the company will then cave in and honor the warranty as it does not want the bad publicity. In most cases of broken products, it is not financially feasible so we customers are victims of the selling corporations when their appliances break down.

One example is our washing machine, Whirlpool, (model 122491, serial No.C311 40001), bought in Abensons, Olongapo. It costs Php 35,000 pesos in US dollars at today’s rate that is equivalent to $685. It was bought 2 years and 7 months ago and broke down. The Abensons manager assigned a repair man to inspect it from a small shop in Subic Municipality and diagnose the problem for a fee of 500 peso. His bill to repair the Whirlpool Washing machine is Php 18,900 equivalent to  US $370.12, enough to buy another model machine. That is the point- they want you to buy more.

So you are advised to consider this experience when you are  purchasing a washing machine but never a  Whirlpool washing machine as it  only works for  about two to three years.

Apple Mac is also another company selling expensive computers with what appears to be planned obeisance or declaration that the model is obsolete after a number of years. For Apple, it is seven years after the end of production. The Apple website has a long list of obsolete products. Even top of the line models have a shelf-life and after five years or six years, they inevitably breakdown. Continue reading

Stop the Promotion of Palm Oil and Biofuels for Aviation

Photo credit: Wikipedia

More Palm Oil Is Likely To Fuel The Aviation Industry With Great Consequences On The Environment And Local Communities

If your organization feels that this trend should be stopped, please sign the attached letter, by sending your name, the name of your organisation and the country to biofuelwatch@gmail.com by 1st October 2017.

Dear ATM members and partners,

The ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organization) – a “specialized UN organization” will hold a high-level “Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels”, in Mexico City from 11th to 13th October 2017.

ICAO supports the aviation industry’s quest for unending rapid growth, a quest which is incompatible with keeping global warming to 1.5oC or even 2oC per (a goal endorsed by the Paris Agreement). Greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation alone grew by 87% between 1990 and 2014 and are rising faster than those from almost any other sector.

It is likely that more planes will start using hydrocarbon fuels in the near future. In fact, the aviation industry has promised “carbon neutral growth” from 2020, which it claims it can achieve largely through a combination of carbon offsetting and biofuels. ICAO’s carbon offsetting plans were denounced by over 100 civil society organizations in 2016.

Ahead of the conference in Mexico, the ICAO Secretariat has published a proposal for vast-scale use of biofuels in aircraft: it wants to see 128 million tonnes of biofuels a year being burned in plane engines by 2040, going up to 285 million tonnes (half of all aviation fuel) by 2050. By comparison, some 82 million tonnes of biofuels a year are currently used in transport worldwide. Even if the figures proposed by the ICAO Secretariat are unrealistic, creating any new market for biofuels will compound the harm caused by existing policies promoting biofuels for road transport in the EU, US and elsewhere.

Monoculture plantations of crops and trees for biofuel covered at least 30 million hectares of land worldwide, but the indirect impacts of the steep growth in biofuels for road transport (mainly cars) since 2010 have gone far beyond the direct impacts. The harm done by existing biofuel policies and subsidies includes increased land-grabbing in the global South; greater food price volatility, which undermines food security as well as food sovereignty; more deforestation and destruction of other biodiverse ecosystems as demand for vegetable oils, sugar cane and cereals increases; more synthetic fertilizer, pesticide and other agrochemical use; depletion and contamination of waterways; and overall climate impacts which are no lesser than those of fossil fuel oil (per tonne of fuel).  Continue reading

Church watchdog welcomes fresh Philippine election delay

Village polls postponed again amid Duterte claims that drug money is funding local politicians’ campaigns

Volunteers of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting attend Mass during a break in the canvass of votes during the 2016 Philippine national elections. (Photo by Mark Saludes)

Joe Torres, ManilaPhilippines                October 4, 2017

A church-backed Philippine poll watchdog has welcomed another postponement of village and youth leader elections scheduled for later this month.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed a decree on Oct. 3 postponing the local elections to the second Monday in May in 2018.

The decree, signed less than three weeks before the scheduled elections on Oct. 23, allows incumbent officials to remain in office.

The elections were originally scheduled for Oct. 31, 2016, but these were moved to Oct. 23, 2017, after Duterte said he wanted the elections deferred because of possible drug money funding the local politicians’ campaigns.

Of the 42,000 villages in the country, about 20,000 are considered tainted by illegal drugs, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Duterte also said in December that dozens of village officials were on what he called a “narco-list” containing the names of personalities allegedly connected to the illegal drug trade.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, a church-backed poll watchdog, welcomed the president’s decision to delay the elections, despite criticizing the initial delay in 2016.

“The uncertainty [over the polls] among incumbent village officials, among possible candidates, among [non-government groups] electoral groups will end,” said lawyer Rene Sarmiento, chairman of the watchdog.

The church group, a citizen’s arm of the Commission on Elections, has been helping the poll body in the verification of the official list of voters.

The group earlier said the government’s plan to postpone the polls “is no substitute to periodic elections in a democracy to check the accountability of elected officials.”

Sarmiento, however, said that now that the president has signed a decree postponing the polls “time, effort and expense can be channeled to other constructive nation-building concerns.”

Andres Bautista, chairman of the Commission on Elections, also welcomed the postponement and advised all deputized agencies “to immediately begin ramping down their election-related activities and await more detailed instructions.”